The Schwab Foundation is a sister concern organization of the World Economic Forum. The Foundation provides unique regional and global platforms to promote social entrepreneurship as a key element to advancing societies and addressing social problems innovatively and effectively.

Programs

SEOY 2010

Previous Years Awards

Social Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (SEOY) 2010

Rajiv Khandelwal and Krishnavtar Sharma, co-founders of Aajeevika Bureau, were the winners of the India Social Entrepreneur of the Year award for the year 2010. KapilSibal, Minister of Human Resource Development, Science and Technology of India, conferred the award to the winners in New Delhi. Aajeevika Bureau has introduced a unique photo identification card for inter-state migrants, allowing them to access banking, mobile telephone and other government services and citizenship entitlements. Besides, the organization also offers skill training, job placement, legal aid and counseling.

More than 100 applicants entered the sixth competition of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year India 2010 selection process. After several stages of rigorous assessment, four finalists were chosen. An independent panel of preeminent judges met on 12 November to select the winners from the finalists. The judges’panel included: ShobhanaBhartia, Chairperson of the Hindustan Times; Y. C. Deveshwar, Chairman of ITC Ltd; RohiniNilekani, Chairperson of Arghyam Foundation; Sudha Pillai, Member Secretary of the Planning Commission; and Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation.

The media partners for the India, Social Entrepreneur of the Year- 2010 Awards were CNBC-TV18, The Hindustan Times and the Mint.

The award is being presented annually in the country since 2005, to individuals who have founded organizations or companies with targeted social missions benefiting underserved communities. The winners enter the global network of 200 leading social entrepreneurs of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister concern organization of the World Economic Forum.

Winner Profile

Co-founded by Rajiv Khandelwal and Krishnavtar Sharma in 2004, Aajeevika Bureau is headquartered in Udaipur, with offices in Ahmadabad, Jaipur and seven blocks of southern Rajasthan, where every year, an estimated 800,000 rural workers migrate seasonally to Gujarat and Karnataka.

All of Aajeevika Bureau’s clients are unskilled and semi-skilled men and women with annual family incomes of less than INR 36,000. They are basically unviable for self help group or microfinance loans due to their migratory status and lack of assets. Aajeevika Bureau offers rural seasonal migrants, photo identity and financial services, skills training, and partnerships with local governments and businesses, mostly at their destination points in urban markets.

Over a period of five years, more than 50,000 ultra-poor seasonal migrants have directly accessed the Bureau’s services, registering 50-80% growth in their incomes as well as increased citizenship entitlements. Additionally, Aajeevika’s model has been replicated by more than 30 civil society organizations in Bihar, Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Finalists:

The AISECT network has over 8,000 education centres across 27 states in India. The organization focuses on providing IT skills training in rural areas. It has a student base of about 1 million (till 2010), resulting in 6,000 self-employed people.

Vaatsalya provides affordable and quality healthcare to more than 300,000 customers annually from middle and low income families. The focus is on primary and secondary healthcare services (internal medicine, maternal health, pediatrics and general surgery) in large towns and peri-urban areas through 10 hospitals.

Award Benefits

The India Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award provides unprecedented opportunities to the winner(s) to engage with global decision makers from the public, corporate, media and academic sectors to strengthen and expand their model.

Specifically, the Award benefits for the winner (s) include participation in the India Economic Summit and regional meetings of the World Economic Forum, inclusion in the Schwab Foundation network of leading social entrepreneurs, possible nomination(s) to the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the Global Agenda Council, and eligibility to participate in the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

About Our Partner

The Schwab Foundation is a sister concern organization of the World Economic Forum. The Foundation provides unique regional and global platforms to promote social entrepreneurship as a key element to advancing societies and addressing social problems innovatively and effectively. It also fosters a close-knit community of social entrepreneurs for exchange of information and replication of best practices. Finally, social entrepreneurs gain unprecedented networking opportunities with global decision-makers, thereby furthering the legitimacy of their work and mobilizing resources for constant expansion.